South Korea’s new President Moon Jae-In called a National Security Council meeting in response to the latest launch, Yonhap news agency reported.

The South’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said it could not yet identify the type of missile fired from Pukchang in South Pyongan province but it travelled about 500 km (311 miles).

“Our military is closely monitoring signs for additional provocation by the North Korean military and we are keeping a full military readiness,” a statement said.

The Hwasong-12 intermediate-range missile fired on May 14 flew some 700 km — further than any previous North Korean ballistic missile — and according to Pyongyang could carry a nuclear warhead.

Analysts said it represented a significant step forward in the North’s weapons capabilities as it accelerates efforts to develop an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) capable of delivering a nuclear warhead to the continental United States.

The launches, and a threatened sixth nuclear test have fuelled tension with the administration of US President Donald Trump, who has vowed that such an ICBM launch “won’t happen”.

Pyongyang has long had missiles that can reach targets across the South and Japan.

With an imputed range of 4,500 kilometres the Hwasong-12 also puts US bases on the Pacific island of Guam within reach.

The UN Security Council met behind closed doors last Tuesday to discuss tightening sanctions on North Korea after its May 14 launch.

US Ambassador Nikki Haley said the United States was working with China, Pyongyang’s main ally, on a new sanctions resolution and warned that all countries must step up action against North Korea or face measures themselves.

“We all have to send a sign to North Korea, and that is: ‘No more. This is not play time. This is serious. These threats are not welcome’,” Haley told reporters ahead of the meeting.

“If you are a country that is supplying or supporting North Korea, we will call you out on it,” Haley said.

The North says it needs missiles and nuclear weapons to deter any attack by the United States.

State newspaper Minju Joson Sunday threatened more launches.

“If the U.S. persists in confrontation with the DPRK (North Korea), the latter will show how the crime-woven history of the U.S. is put to an end,” it said.

“Many more ‘Juche weapons’ capable of striking the US will be launched from this land. This is the DPRK’s answer to the Trump administration,” it said, referring to the national philosophy of “Juche” or self-reliance.

A typical weekend date for Japanese Princess Mako and her soon- to-be fiance Kei Komuro, like many young couples deep in the throes of love, involved strolls along the Yokohama bay front, dining in Tokyo restaurants and spending time together visiting museums and at the movies.

When the couple, both 25, went on dates, security was kept to the bare minimum and they usually preferred travelling by train.

The five-year courtship for Komuro, dubbed “Prince of the Sea” when he was tourism ambassador for coastal Fujisawa city, and the princess culminated in a flurry of congratulations last week when news broke of their impending engagement.

The duo met in June 2012 when they were studying at Tokyo’s International Christian University (ICU). They were introduced by a mutual friend at a social gathering in a western restaurant in Shibuya, held for local and foreign students to discuss studying abroad.

The princess’ parents, Prince Akishino and Princess Kiko, took a quick liking to Komuro, who has been described in local media reports as an earnest young man who enjoys cooking, playing the violin and skiing. They began seeing each other a month later, and he reportedly first asked for her hand a year after they met.

Their dreamy romance between a royal and a “commoner” is a modern-day fairy tale that has since captured imagination and headlines all over the world. Princess Mako grew up within the rarefied compounds of the grand neo-baroque Akasaka Palace, which hosts visiting state dignitaries to Japan.

Komuro, whose father died when he was young, lives with his mother and grandfather in an apartment in Yokohama. To help makes ends meet, he worked part-time during his university years at a French restaurant and taught English at a cram school.

Their love has withstood the test of distance when the princess pursued a masters in art museum and gallery studies at Britain’s University of Leicester from 2014 to 2015.

Komuro is now a paralegal who also majors in business law as a graduate student at Tokyo’s Hitotsubashi University. Princess Mako, meanwhile, works as an affiliate researcher at a museum at the University of Tokyo as she reads a PhD course in museology at the ICU.

A host of traditional rituals await the couple in the run-up to their official engagement which could be as early as next month. A wedding is expected next year.

First, in a betrothal ceremony called Nosai no Gi, Komuro’s messenger will visit the Imperial Palace bearing gifts to make the official vow of engagement. Such gifts usually include male and female sea bream, a bottle of sake and bolts of silk that will be used to make the wedding dress. A wedding date will then be set.

While she will lose her royal status upon marriage, she will be paid a one-time lump sum allowance by the state and earn voting rights.

Trade ministers from the 21 Pacific Rim countries gathered during a major trade meeting on Saturday in Hanoi to discuss future plans for regional trade co-operation amid growing fears of protectionism, as well as changes in politics, economies and technology.

As one of APEC’s most prominent ministerial gatherings, the 23rd Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT23) kicked off in the presence of Vietnamese Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc.

In his opening remarks, PM Phuc highlighted APEC’s three decades of growth and endorsed its important role as the economic driver and growth engine of the Asia-Pacific region and the world.

Of note, the average regional tariff has been reduced from 17 per cent since its inception in 1989 to 5.5 per cent in 2016, as incomes and living standards have been improved for a large proportion of the region’s population.

“These outcomes have provided testament to the efforts of the region for trade liberalisation, trade and investment facilitation, as well as shared regional stability, development and prosperity,” PM Phuc said.

He also raised concerns over multiple evolutions in politics, economies and technology, especially the fourth industrial revolution and the emergence of the digital economy, which have brought substantial economic, cultural and social changes.

APEC is aiming for a truly connected Asia-Pacific, in terms of its people, infrastructure, technology and information, in order to expand economic growth, trade and investment and oversee comprehensive institutional reform in each member country.

PM Phuc called on the regional member economies to step up economic and technical co-operation, experience and information sharing during the process of policy-making and implementation of co-operation programmes.

“However, co-operation plans and their fine goals might still fail to turn into reality when we lack trust, political determination and co-ordination to safeguard a peaceful environment, ensure security and safety for investment and the flows of goods in the region,” he noted.

Vietnam’s active participation

Vietnam officially joined APEC in 1998. Since then, APEC has played an increasingly important role in the country’s economic development.

APEC member economies have contributed about 78 per cent of the total FDI inflows to Vi?t Nam, 75 per cent of total merchandise trade and 79 per cent of the total number of tourists to the country. Additionally, 13 APEC members have become Vietnam’s strategic and comprehensive partners.

“With its strong determination and efforts to deepen reform and international integration, Vietnam has made significant contributions to APEC’s co-operation,” PM Phuc said.

In the first day of the meeting, ministers exchanged and discussed ongoing initiatives related to sustainable, inclusive and innovative growth in APEC, especially initiatives in promoting competitiveness of micro-, small- and medium-sized enterprises.

Vietnam has provided updates on the progress of the Action Agenda on promoting economic, financial and social inclusion in the APEC region, as well as progress on the APEC framework for developing human resources in the digital age.

Director General of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) Roberto Azevedo reported progress by WTO in preparation for the 11th  WTO ministerial meeting in Argentina at the end of this year.

The meeting highlighted WTO’s recent achievements in promoting free trade, including endorsement of Bali and Nairobi outcomes, the Trade Facilitation Agreement (TFA) and the Protocol amending the Agreement on Trade-Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS).

This is an important basis for the WTO to advance negotiations on the remaining Doha Development Agenda.

Trade officials have exchanged views on current regional and global economic trends, challenges and outlooks, including trade agreement negotiations and implementation. They discussed how to accelerate progress in fulfilling the Bogor Goals and initiatives to advance regional economic integration.

Most APEC members agreed to support free and open trade and committed to continue building a strong, transparent and rule-based multilateral trading system.

The meeting closed on Sunday after discussion about the APEC post-2020 vision.

High ranking officials’ meetings

On Saturday, Prime Minister Nguyen Xuan Phuc met US Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer, who is in Vietnam for the APEC 23rd

Meeting of Ministers Responsible for Trade (MRT23).

PM Phuc highlighted the United States’ crucial role in the Asia-Pacific region’s economic co-operation, hoping the two countries would continue promoting its co-operation activities, particularly in economy and trade, to contribute to regional and global prosperity.

Vietnam and the United States have enjoyed sound trade relations, and have witnessed significant achievements. The PM confirmed that

Vietnam supports free trade, on the basis of fairness and mutual benefits, and values economic relations with the United States.

For his part, Lighthizer underlined that Vietnam is his first destination as US Trade Representative, adding that the US always attaches importance to trade and economic development with the Southeast Asian country.

He also promised to cooperate with Vietnamese authorities to expand cooperation projects, helping develop bilateral trade and economic ties.

On the same day, PM Phuc greeted Japanese Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Hiroshige Seko. He said the Vietnamese Government would assist Japanese enterprises seeking to invest in Vietnam and called upon the two countries to flesh out new co-operation understandings to elevate bilateral trade to a new high.

He also asked organisations from both sides to discuss solutions to promoting farm produce imports and exports and contributing to increasing two-way trade, which remains below the two countries’ potential.

Meanwhile, Minister Hiroshige Seko said Vietnam played a significant role in fostering co-operation mechanisms in Asia-Pacific and the world. He said that the Japanese Government and people hope the Prime Minister will pay an official visit to the country and pledged that his ministry will contribute to the success of the Vietnamese leader’s visit.

Today, the eight-year-old has his own robot companion – GT Wonder Boy – designed and developed by his father, Dr Paul Zhang, with the help of a team of engineers.

He has the prototype of Singapore’s latest robot, completely researched and developed here. It will go on sale here in August.

It may be small at 24cm, with a mobile phone-like body, but GT Wonder Boy is not a toy.

The robot companion can be used to entertain an elderly person living alone at home by talking or singing to him, or be used at work as a personal assistant. It can be controlled through voice command and, if a user wants to send a text message or make a restaurant booking, the robot will access the Internet and do just that.

Dr Zhang, 55, said it can hold a conversation in 13 languages, including English and Mandarin, recognise voices and faces, do mathematics, dance and sing. And it can also do what a regular smartphone does, including taking photos.

Dr Zhang is the founder of GT Robot Technology. He said that over the two years, the research and development process had encountered many failures.

One of the tougher challenges was to get the robot to understand different accents, which Dr Zhang said was extremely tedious.

But the Portuguese citizen, who lives in Singapore, pressed on because he wanted the robot to “benefit many people”, which is also why it was eventually developed to speak and understand over a dozen languages.

Other challenges included developing an in-house operating system that could convert text into words, and decode what it hears and give a logical response.

But it was a labour of love, said Dr Zhang, who is also chairman and chief executive of the GT group of companies that has other businesses such as GT Mobile, which develops smartphones and smart watches, and GT Dollar, an e-commerce mobile app.

“It is my dedication of love to my own wonder boy – my son, who has inspired me to create this Wonder Boy,” said Dr Zhang, who has another son, Feliciano, four.

His wife is the executive director of GT Robot Technology.

Dr Zhang said he assembled and led a team of robotics experts from countries such as France, the United States, Singapore, Malaysia and China to develop GT Wonder Boy.

There have been other robots developed in Singapore. Last year, four students from Nanyang Polytechnic won over judges at the finals of the Microsoft Imagine Cup Singapore 2016. They built Ruth, a social robot designed to keep seniors living alone happy and safe.

Dr Zhang said his robot is not yet perfect and the team will continue to improve on it, perhaps even giving it the ability to sense smoke so that it can alert its user to a fire.

But he is planning to sell his robot in three months. The first 10,000 – manufactured in Singapore and China – will be available exclusively in Singapore. They are expected to retail for about US$2,000 (S$2,800) each.

“The robot was fully developed here, so it is only natural that we let Singaporeans be the first to experience its capabilities,” said Dr Zhang.

After that, 100,000 more will be sold worldwide.

GT Wonder Boy may not be perfect yet but Emiliano is happy with it. He said: “It can help me with my homework, especially mathematics.”

“Study well… Don’t hit anyone,” he says. The boy gets on the motorcycle and rides out of the gate, whereupon another rider crashes into him.

This road safety awareness video, released by Ramathibodi Hospital’s Child Safety Promotion and Injury Prevention Centre (CSIP) last year, has resonated with many in Thailand, where 73 per cent of traffic-related deaths involve motorcycles.

Experts said last month that, on average, 5,500 motorcyclists die annually – or 15 deaths a day. The figure continues to climb, making Thailand the world’s deadliest country for two-wheelers. The issue returned to the fore this month after two separate motorbike accidents in Phuket killed a pregnant British tourist and seriously injured another British tourist.

“If you take motorcycles out of the equation, Thailand’s roads will be as safe as (those in) Switzerland, the United States and the United Kingdom,” Dr Liviu Vedrasco, health cluster chief at the World Health Organisation (WHO) in Bangkok, told The Sunday Times.

In a 2015 report, WHO said there were 26.3 motorcycle-related deaths for every 100,000 people in Thailand, the highest in the world.

Motorcycles are a common mode of transport for Thais. Last year, they bought 1.74 million motorcycles compared with only 768,788 cars, according to the Thai Automotive Industry Association. In the first quarter of this year, 461,783 motorcycles were sold.

A 2015 study by the Thailand Accident Research Centre (Tarc) said motorbikes are popular for their convenience, low fuel and maintenance costs, and affordability.

CSIP director Adisak Plitpolkarnpim said the practice of allowing children to ride motorbikes is prevalent, especially in provinces. “Children ride them to school, for fun, or to run errands for their parents,” he said.

Under Thai law, those who are 15 years old can get a driver’s licence for vehicles with engines less than 110cc, but Dr Adisak said this is widely violated. CSIP said about 15,800 children get into motorcycle-related accidents annually, resulting in an estimated 700 deaths.

Reducing these numbers will take more than a road safety video.

The Asia Injury Prevention Foundation (AIPF) starts them young through the Street Wise Programme, which teaches schoolchildren the importance of wearing helmets. Thailand’s helmet law is not strictly enforced, especially in provinces and among pillion riders.

During the United Nations’ Global Road Safety Week earlier this month, AIPF joined other advocates in urging schools to include helmet wearing as part of the curriculum. “It is best to teach them about discipline while they are young,” said AIPF country manager Oratai Junsuwanaruk. “Imagine, only 7 per cent of children who ride as passengers wear helmets.”

The Tarc study cited lack of sleep, drink driving, ignorance of the law and speeding as the main causes of accidents. It said most motorbike deaths were due to fatal head injuries among pillion passengers. A 2013 survey showed only 19 per cent of pillion riders wore helmets, compared with 53 per cent of riders.

WHO’s Dr Vedrasco said the government should pay attention to motorcycle riders.

“If you want to really save lives, do something about this risk group,” he said. “Impose the helmet law strictly, and make them safer riders through more hours of training. Or, like in China, dedicate a special lane for them.”

Erdogan rejoined the ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) on May 2 after the public approved changes to create an executive presidency on April 16.

Under the old constitution, the head of state had to sever ties with their political party and Erdogan left as AKP chairman in August 2014 after his election as president.

Rejoining the AKP was the first major change permitted after the vote, allowing the president to be affiliated with a political party almost immediately.

Erdogan narrowly won with 51.4 percent of the vote but most of the new system, including axing the role of premier, will not come into force until November 3, 2019.

However, as leader Erdogan can decide the party’s direction.

Current party leader and Prime Minister Binali Yildirim will be given a newly-created role of “vice chairman”, AKP deputy chairman Hayati Yazici said on Saturday.

Erdogan led the party for three terms during his premiership between 2003 and 2014, after he co-founded it in 2001.

The father-of-four affectionately describes the most effective Islamic rooted political force in the history of modern Turkey as his fifth child.

After becoming a party member again in an emotional grand ceremony in Ankara, Erdogan said he had “returned to my home, my passion, my love”.

With Erdogan as party leader, all eyes will be on the cabinet, with Hurriyet daily speculating at the weekend that eight to 10 ministers could be reshuffled.

Era of transformation

Nearly 1,500 delegates will vote to decide the new party leader, state-run news agency Anadolu reported, in an election where there is only one candidate: Erdogan.

If chosen, it will be the first time the president will be both party chairman and head of state since the end of the presidency in 1950 of Ismet Inonu, the successor and right-hand-man of Mustafa Kemal Ataturk, Turkey’s modern founder.

In the capital and on social media posters and images have appeared of Erdogan and slogans such as “iron will, strong Turkey” and “full steam ahead with the founding leader”.

A special congress slogan reads “a new breakthrough period: democracy, transformation, reform” hinting at the expected restructuring of the government as well as changes to the party’s executive in the coming weeks and months.

Erdogan told party officials “the new period means a new action plan” without giving details, Hurriyet reported on Saturday.

Up to 60,000 participants from across Turkey are expected to descend on Ankara for the congress in the stadium in the city centre, Anadolu reported.

‘Party full of loyalists’

Turkish pro-government media has been full of AKP officials speculating that Erdogan’s return will mean the end of the party’s internal rivalries and will boost morale.

According to Aykan Erdemir, senior fellow at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies, Erdogan “could informally dictate the AKP’s MP candidates to a great extent” even after leaving in 2014.

But the former MP for Turkey’s main opposition Republican People’s Party (CHP) said becoming chairman would mean Erdogan gains the “formal authority to determine who runs for office from AKP lists”.

Erdemir told AFP: “This new prerogative will allow him to design both a party apparatus and a parliamentary group composed entirely of loyalists.”

Well-connected Hurriyet columnist Abdulkadir Selvi previously said Erdogan would oversee a oversee a shake-up of AKP leaders at local level determined by their success in the referendum.

“The most crucial outcome of his power grab within the AKP is that as the president-cum-party leader, Erdogan will hold the reins of the lawmakers who are supposed to check and balance the executive, and impeach the president, if necessary,” Erdemir said.

“Hence, by becoming the AKP leader, Erdogan wants to make sure that he has enough loyalists in the parliament to block any impeachment attempts.”

The 12-nation Trans-Pacific Partnership covered 40 percent of the global economy before Trump abruptly abandoned it in January as part of a campaign pledge to save American jobs he says have been sucked up overseas.

But key remaining members of the pact are desperate to keep the deal alive, believing it will lock-in free trade as well as boost labour rights and environmental protections.

The charge is being led by Japan, New Zealand and Australia who are leading the so-called TPP 11.

Trade representatives agreed to help the United States to rejoin the deal at any time, pinning hopes on a U-turn in American policy.

“We very much expect the full participation of all countries that negotiated TPP from the start, and we will consider a mechanism to ensure (that),” said Vietnam’s Trade Minister Tran Tuan Anh, who co-chaired the meeting.

Spearheaded by former US president Barack Obama, the far-reaching TPP — which notably excludes China — would have rewritten the rules of 21st century trade.

The deal goes further than most existing free trade pacts, with labour laws, environmental protections and intellectual property rights touted as a new gold standard for global trade.

It promised to transform smaller economies such as Vietnam by carving out unprecedented access to the world’s top economies.

But Trump denounced the deal as a “job killer” and a “rape” of American interests.

His administration has instead vowed to seek bilateral trade deals with partners.

– Balance of power –

====================

The deal was also seen as a way to counter Beijing’s regional economic dominance.

Reviving the TPP, even without the heft of the world’s biggest economy, would still provide ballast against China, analyst Alex Capri told AFP.

“The Chinese would not be particularly pleased to see the TPP go ahead even without the United States,” said Capri, a senior fellow and professor at the National University of Singapore.

He did not rule out the eventual return of the United States to the TPP, noting that Trump has “flip-flopped” on other campaign positions in a headline-grabbing first few months in office.

The TPP ministers met on the sidelines of a gathering of trade ministers from the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in preparation for a November summit of global leaders.

Newly-appointed US trade chief Robert Lighthizer attended the two-day gathering, where he was scheduled to meet one-on-one with several ministers, including from China, Canada and Mexico.

The Reagan-era trade veteran has been tasked with renegotiation of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) — another deal Trumped promised to pull out of, though he later backpedalled after speaking to the leaders of Canada and Mexico.

The Trump administration has said it is seeking bilateral agreements over sweeping free trade pacts, and is pushing for fair trade with partners, not just free trade.